Banishment
by firemage23
Summary: Forced from his home, Loki must find his footing on the planet he once stood to rule over. Post Avengers - LokiXOC
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've posted anything I know, but I couldn't help myself to not jump on the bandwagon that was Loki after seeing The Avengers. I understand that every angle there is has been done before for after the end of the movie, but I liked the idea I had and went with it. So! If you've never seen the movie I suggest you go and do so, for there may be some major spoilers if you haven't been privy to them yet - otherwise enjoy!_

_Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognize.  
_

* * *

Banishment.

That was his punishment? Banishment?

A small perturbed huff passed his lips as he looked around the field he had been deposited in, devoid of his powers and his otherworldly armor, abandoned for an unknown amount of time. This wasn't like his brother, no, his brother was always supposed to be welcomed back into the good graces of the kingdom. He on the other hand was surprised his father didn't do worse to him... then again.

He glanced around at the lush greens around him and then up at the tall steel buildings looming on the horizon and the sounds of human life off in the distance.

Yea, this was a pretty good punishment.

Brushing off a bug crawling up his leg, he moved from the tall grasses, tromping loudly through the thicket and through the thin layer of trees. He dropped down the small embankment to the road, brushing off his black button up shirt roughly. He rolled his eyes before beginning his trek, suddenly, and unexpectedly, missing his childhood home he lost yet again. Last time he was here he had been bound and gagged after being horribly (and embarrassingly) defeated by a group of men that he believed to be of no consequence. He was quickly whisked away back to Asgard by his dear brother and presented once again to his quite unhappy father, along with the rest of the people of Asgard who looked at him as though he was a leech in need of being squashed. He wasn't quite sure how he got away with just being banished, he was honestly expecting something much more... binding to put it simply, but his father sent him that disappointed stare before dropping his staff to the floor with his ruling. Most people cried against it, wishing for something more from the almighty father, but after dropping his staff yet again, the hall fell silent.

"Loki you will spend your time in the place you believed you could rule," Odin said slowly, standing before his throne in his golden armor. "And you will learn of the ones who have rightfully defeated you."

For a second he thought he saw a flash of jealousy in his brother's eyes and a dark twist of thoughts bubbled in the back of his head from the brief glimpse. Yes, he would have fun with this. The woman his dear brother left behind that he would no longer see - oh the opportunities. He smirked as he walked, his stride taking on a haughty step as he thought of the possibilities of being here, of what he could do as payback. The problem before him however was finding the woman of Thor's affections. Unfortunately the only way he knew how was left back at Asgard with his father or bound tightly within him by the almighty father's own magic. He supposed his plans would be set back by this, but the first step was to acclimate.

He entered the city finally, the foliage giving way to shrubs and the shrubs giving way to concrete and steel. He had been in this city before, but hadn't bothered to catch the name of it since in his mind it was to turn to rubble at his hand to only be rebuilt again into something grander than what it was now. Yes he had plans. He huffed softly to himself, a rough frown pulling the corners of his lips down at the thought. Oh the glory he would bring to this planet as ruler! These humans would never be able to envision it as he did, the beauty and splendor he would create from his hands. Well... not his hands specifically, but it was his vision at its core.

He eyed the large transportation vehicles that huddled slowly down the street, emitting their loud, annoying, artificial sounds and the crowds of humans that stalked the walkways around them. It didn't make much sense to him at all and when he joined the hoards he was brushed and pushed in all sorts of directions that made him want to scream. If only his powers were still flowing through him, oh the havoc he would reap these humans who bustled him so.

Unable to stand it, he stumbled to a smaller, less crowded street that didn't have so many vehicles and humans making so much noise. He walked unknowing where he would go, what he would do. What would he do for shelter? Thor, the lucky bastard, was given a place to lay his head within minutes of landing on this planet, but his luck was far from plenty, his track record could easily attest to that. So this left him with a serious problem especially when the sun above finished its decent to the horizon below.

In his ponderings, he barely noticed any other being on the walkway other than he until their shoulders connected in a very rough way.

"Whoa man!"

He moved to ignore it, more important things on his mind rather than these menial creatures now behind him.

"Hey!"

He was grabbed roughly by the shoulder, the hand forcing him around until he met the eyes of a seemingly angry youth.

"Yo man you just ran into me," He said angrily, Loki glancing down his nose at the boy in front of him, his friend hovering close by.

"I believe it was you who ran into me," He said frankly, making sure to straighten his back ever so slightly, showing off his obvious royalty bloodline and height.

The boy huffed, glancing over his shoulder with a smirk on his face. "Can you believe this guy?"

Before Loki could expect it, the boy drew back his hand and slammed his fist into his face, snapping his head to the side, the taste of blood in his mouth. He straightened, his eyes narrowing dangerously, grabbing hold of the boys collar and drawing his face closer to his own, a sneer curling hauntingly over his features.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"Like hell I..."

Loki threw his head into the boys before he could finish, letting go of his collar in the process, his body dropping to the ground in a heap, a dazed look on his face.

"What the fuck man!"

His friend stepped forward, his arm cocked back as Loki stepped forward, his hands balled into fists. However before either of them could do a thing a torrent of water flooded all three of them, stopping them in their tracks. Loki stepped back, gazing down at his dripping form before looking over to stare at the culprit. Standing there was a very proud woman, her chin held high, a silver bucket clutched in her hands and her chest thrust forward, her breasts fighting the constraints of the very tight rust colored t-shirt she wore. She had an apron tied round her waist and she sat in a hip, her hand resting on the rounded flesh as she looked down her nose at all three of them. She had long, golden brown hair that laid in ringlets over her shoulders, her long lashes and arched brows making Loki stop for a minute, his anger halting for the briefest of seconds.

"What the fuck lady!"

The boy still standing rushed for the woman, but his luck was worse than Loki's as the woman swung her arm quickly, allowing the bucket she held to collide with his head with a loud 'thunk.' He dropped to the ground next to his friend, the same dazed look in his eyes. The former boy grabbed his friends arm, lifting him as the two ran off down the street, the woman moving, her arm raised above her head.

"Yea that's right! Run you pansies! I don't wanna see you around here again!"

She turned, falling back into a hip, a smile on her face. "Sorry 'bout that," She eyed Loki's soaking clothes. "I was aiming for the little shits that were hassling you."

"Ah," He grumbled lowly, trying in vain to brush some of the water from his shirt.

"Common in, I'll bring ya a towel and help you clean up," The woman smiled warmly and turned, walking into the building behind them, a small ring following the opening of the door. Loki frowned, eyeing the streets around him and finally the woman who waited at the door for him, deciding he had nothing else to do and moving inside.

"Take a seat I'll go grab that towel," She chimed, leaving him behind as she moved around a few of the wooden tables, all empty, to a very short door that led behind a long counter. The room around him was bathed in wooded colors, accents of reds, blacks and gold giving a very warm feel to the small place. He eyed the black board covered in white writing behind the counter, names and numbers scrawled over a clouded background. A large glass case interrupted the smooth wood of the counter, filled with tiny cakes and cookies as well as some rice-looking concoction that was sliced into a cube.

"Here we go," Came the woman's voice again as she rounded the corner and slipped through the doorway behind the counter quickly, handing a large fluffy blue towel over to him. He took it without a word, drawing the cloth over his clothes slowly.

"Don't talk much do you?"

Loki glanced up at the woman, her chin in her hand as she bent over the wood, her blue eyes dancing with mirth.

"Was I supposed to?"

"Well usually when given something by someone you reply with a thank you," She said with a cocked eyebrow. Loki simply stared at her, his green eyes squinting slightly before continuing to dry himself off. The woman's eyebrows rose high on her head, her blue eyes narrowing slightly from his stubborn silence.

"Who are you?"

Loki glanced up at her, his shirt still wet but not clinging so closely to his body like before. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," He said simply, wondering for the first time if the humans of this Earth knew who caused the raucous in this very city not very long ago.

The woman in front of him looked bemused as she rose from the counter, her back straightening. "Try me."

"My name is Loki Laufeyson, former prince of Asgard."

The woman's face didn't change, her arms crossed over her chest as she hesitated, neither of them breathing a word.

"Are you the same Loki that brought the tirade of aliens through that portal over Stark Tower?" She asked finally and this time Loki's eyebrows rose.

"The same."

The woman snorted, dropping her arms and sitting her hands on her hips. "I would suggest keeping that kinda information to yourself from now on around here."

"You believe me?" He questioned with a furrow of his brow and the woman shrugged.

"Believed weirder things."

She moved from behind the counter, pushing through the short door and walking up to Loki, her hand outstretched.

"My name is Maggie."


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note: Hello everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize._

* * *

Loki glanced down at the woman's hand before fitting his around hers, noticing how tiny her palm seemed in his. She smiled at him as they moved their clutched hands up and down, Loki unsure the need for the gesture, but allowing it anyway.

"So what are you doing back in the city you broke?" Maggie asked, taking her hand from his and leaning on the wooden table behind her.

"My father banished me here," He muttered unhappily, drawing a shrug from the woman.

"Fit punishment I would think."

"Why would you say that?" He asked roughly, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, from what I saw on the news you wanted to rule us and all, but a king can't rule people he doesn't know or understand."

"You sound like my brother," He huffed and she grinned.

"Good thing one of us is making sense."

He glared at her, pouting like an insolent child. Maggie's head tilted to one side, sending him a quizzical look. "So if your father banished you to Earth, where are you staying?"

Loki's lips narrowed to a thin line, a grim look on his face. "I don't know," He said simply, staring out of the shops' front windows.

"Well that sucks."

Maggie lifted herself from the table and walked away towards the back of the building, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Wait," Loki called after her and she turned. "Wouldn't that be the time to offer some kind of aid to those that are in need?"

"I didn't even get a thank you from you," She said incredulously. "Why should I offer you a place to stay?"

His face contorted briefly, but before he opened his mouth with the death threat at the tip of his tongue, his eyes cast the front windows again, noticing that twilight wasn't that far off. If he didn't take what he needed from this woman by giving her what she wanted, who was to say someone else would be extending the same offer? He also couldn't help but believe that she was right about his name, it would be terribly troublesome if he came across more humans who knew who he was and what he had done. He needed an alias first and foremost, but this woman who knew who he was didn't seem to care. On the contrary she was even considering him a place to sleep if she received payment and even though in his eyes it was terribly demeaning, he had no other choice but to offer it up.

"Thank you," He said after a moment, his eyes casting to the floor. "For driving off those boys earlier and giving me something to dry off with after dousing me with water." He glanced up at her, finding a bemused smile on her lips, her arms crossed over her chest again.

"And?"

"What?"

"Well I'm not so sure I've got a place for you... unless you ask me nicely," She smirked cheekily and Loki's fists clenched in anger.

"Do you by chance have a place for me to stay?" He growled through clenched teeth, a long pause following his words, Maggie's eyebrows rising from his silence. "Please."

"Yup," She sang with a large grin, her arms dropping as she turned towards the doorway behind her, glancing over her shoulder at the still smoldering god. "Common, I just so happen to have a free apartment upstairs."

Loki huffed, gathering his shattered pride before following the woman through the door way to a little foyer, another door leading outside sitting on the opposite wall. She ignored it and took to the stairs on their left, climbing them smoothly, the wood creaking under her weight.

"You're lucky," She said over her shoulder as they climbed. "I'd been looking for a new tenant but didn't want someone nutty..." She paused, stopping her ascent and glancing at the raven haired man behind her. "Close enough."

She pulled a set of keys from her pocket, choosing one from the ring and slipping it into the wooden door behind her, opening it and stepping aside so Loki could walk inside. Above anything else, the place was bare. There was only one room in the place, a small bed all the way against the far wall below the only window, the walls were off white and the only splash of color came from the wooden cabinets arranged nicely in the left corner to form some semblance of a kitchen. Loki sneered as he walked through the doorway, eyeing the bare walls, the single chair left in the middle of the room, the ugly yellow-ish tiles at his feet. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment.

"Banishment."

"What?"

He turned, finding Maggie staring at him expectantly from the doorway.

"Nothing," He said quickly, waving her off and turning back around to the place he was supposed to be staying at. He said please for this?

"Well," Maggie hummed, coming up behind him and glancing around the place herself. "The former tenant took everything with 'im except the bed and that chair obviously. Otherwise you're going to have to find your own stuff to buy." She stepped further into the apartment, twirling to look at him. "Your key is upstairs in my place and uhm..." She gazed at the tiny kitchen off to the side. "You don't really have anything to eat so if you want you can come up, I'll cook us some dinner and we can talk about rent and what not, sound good?"

He eyed her for a moment. "Do I have to say please again?"

Maggie laughed, moving past him and back through the doorway. "You don't, but manners are always accepted in my building."

Sighing softly to himself, Loki followed her out and up another flight of stairs, the pair ending up at her place, seated at her lush dining table with plates of what she called stew in front of them, a loaf of bread in between. Loki was never good at small talk, he never had been during Asgard feasts and sitting with Maggie was no different. He thought they would be talking about whatever Maggie had said before, but instead she blathered on about the building and the little shop she ran on the bottom floor. He was simply thankful the food was decent or else he would have run back down to the little white place below to get away, the key already tucked into his trouser pocket.

"So," Maggie said after another swallow of her food, drawing the man's attention back. "About rent - were you planning on getting a job while you're here?"

Loki blinked at her, blatant confusion settling in. "What are you speaking of?"

"A job," Maggie said, not clarifying anything. "Work you do to earn money so you can pay me for the apartment?"

The god blanched, unsure if it was over what she asked or the horrible thing he just bit into that was floating in the brown concoction he had been eating. "I have to pay you?" He asked.

"I'm not letting you stay for free," Maggie snorted, reminding Loki for the smallest of seconds of the ladies in waiting back on Asgard as she leaned back in her chair, glancing at him down her nose. "You work for your bread and butter here on Earth."

"I thought you said this was stew," He muttered, glancing down at his spoon. Maggie huffed lowly, crossing her arms underneath her breasts, the globes straining against the neck of her shirt, Loki's lip curling from the effect.

"Well, I think you should work down in the shop, I'll take the rent out of your pay and you can have the leftovers for food and everything."

"Work in the shop," He glanced down at the table with his eyebrows drawn. "What would I be doing exactly?"

Maggie grinned a truly terrible, wolfish grin that straightened the god's spine and for the first time in a while, sent a streak of fear trickling down his spine.

"Oh you'll see."

* * *

"I'm a what."

"A waiter!" Maggie said with her same boisterous smile, the apron fixed back across her waist, a green shirt now plastered to her frame, her curls bouncing enthusiastically. He took one look at her and contemplated turning around, having every mind to go back upstairs where he had been sleeping soundly until this woman woke him up with loud noises on his door. He opened it to tell her off, but the woman grabbed him and shoved him down the stairs and into the kitchen with another tired-looking youth with bright blonde, scraggy hair.

"Hey Magg's," The youth yawned. "Turn down the cheery would ya? It's too early for it."

Loki couldn't agree more.

"Sorry Chase," She grinned, drawing a sleepy smile from the slouching man. "You," She pointed to Loki, making sure not to use his name around the one called Chase. "With me."

She turned and waltzed through the kitchen, opening a door next to a giant metal one that looked like some sort of cage for something large. He glanced at the man beside him, his eyes closed as he rocked back and forth on his feet before following Maggie, finding her shifting some boxes around inside a tiny room.

"Ah," She said happily, throwing a white cloth over her shoulder, Loki catching it from the air. "That's your apron and it's one of the few left so don't go losing or breaking it." She shifted a few more things around before uttering another triumphant cry, holding something in her hand. "I knew I had it somewhere here."

Stepping out of the room with her hand outstretched she handed him something small and rectangular. He eyed the words typed in black on the beige background, a tiny yellow happy face at the end of the last letter.

"Lance," He read lowly, glancing up to the glowing woman.

"That's your name tag while you're working," She said, her hands on her hips. "I could care less what you name yourself outta the shop, but it's not going to be your old name."

Loki looked at the two objects in his hand, confusion written all over his face. Maggie sighed with a roll of her eyes, moving up to the man and wrapping the apron around his waist and affixing his new badge on his chest. She stepped back, looking quite proud with herself before leading him back to Chase who looked considerably more awake than he was when they had left him. He glanced at the name tag on Loki's chest, his eyes widening slightly.

"Lance?" He glanced over at Maggie. "You're giving him your old boyfriend's name tag?"

Loki's green eyes found Maggie's blue who looked at him wearily before sending a weak smile Chase's way. "Gotta, that's his name."

Loki suppressed the snort from the obvious lie the woman stated. Honestly, what were the odds that a man new to the shop would have the same name as the one who had worked the position beforehand? His chin tilted back slightly, wondering if he could use this idiot woman to his advantage, having full faith in the man in front of him to see her obvious lie.

"Works for me."

Maggie grinned good-naturedly, clapping Chase on the shoulder and pointing to the bewildered god behind her. "Show him the ropes would you Chase? He's never served before so he might need some extra attention."

"On a Monday Magg's?" The human boy whined.

"Yes on a Monday," She said, turning from the both of them and heading out of the kitchen. "Don't worry if he needs more help than you can give, I'll offer some of mine." She sent another wolfish grin Loki's way, stopping him in his tracks for the second time, the look far too dangerous to ignore.

"I'm opening the doors now," She sang as she headed up front, the boy next to Loki turning to him.

"Listen up, pal," He leaned up to the taller man, his brown eyes narrowing. "You better watch my lead and do exactly as I do. You can shadow me for the first table, but you're on your own afterwards. If Maggie doesn't like you by the third table then you're outta here."

Loki sneered, using his height to look down on the blonde, his eyes narrowing. "I don't need your help," He growled, his lip curling. "I'll be perfect by the second table."

Chase snorted, shaking his head and headed to the door of the kitchen, grabbing his apron from a hook on the wall, tying it tightly around his waist. "I'm not bailing your ass out today. You can flounder for all I care."

"I'll have all of you humans eating out of my hand," Loki growled out as Chase turned and strutted out of the kitchen, completely ignoring the fuming man behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! Just a FYI - this story is not going to be very long, I actually wouldn't expect it to reach 10 (which was what I was hoping). This chapter has some insightful Loki, which was probably the most fun to write! I wish you could get the inner monologue of characters when watching a movie, I would think Loki would have some long soliloquies that would slowly get nuttier and nuttier XD._

_Tell me what you think! Enjoy!  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize._

* * *

Maggie didn't miss much when it came to her shop, keeping an eye on the moods of her customers was her specialty - she always had to know how they felt over her bagels, coffee, or whatever other pastry they bought that morning before work. Very few New Yorkers stayed in her shop in the early morning, most running through on their way to their own nine to five, but the ones who did (mostly regulars) were watched closely whenever they took a bite or sip as they read their papers or typed in their laptops. Maggie prided herself on her customer service, most telling her she had the best smile in the city (though she didn't wear her low-cut tops for nothing). She ran a tight ship, keeping hold of the front counter and baking the night before for the bagel rush early in the morning, Gabe coming in to start up the fryers for the mid-morning bruncher's and the early luncher's. When she first opened her place, she kept up two servers for a long time, but after a while Chase became her main server, the second exchanging in and out as time went on. The shop really only needed one server so long as Chase was on, but the boy needed time off, like any other normal person, so Maggie tried her best to provide relief where it was needed.

All morning she kept an eye on Loki as he worked, finding that he and Chase had a very interesting rivalry going on, their shared glares and rough words that crossed between them a giant tip-off. Surprisingly he wasn't doing too badly for his first day, she caught a few things that she would've expected someone new to make, but other than that he dazzled everyone that sat down (especially the women). He was actually quite dapper as a waiter, his hands always clasped behind his back when he arrived at a table, his voice smooth and proper. Never once did he say thank you, but it was almost as if he never needed to and when he left every group would lean in and laugh together, sneaking glances at the man as he left. Maggie couldn't help but chuckle to herself at the next set of girls giggling after Loki left their table, slightly hushed voices wafting through the room of the hot waiter taking care of them. She grinned at him knowingly, but he simply scowled back and continued his duty.

When the afternoon hit, Maggie waltzed up to him, throwing a thumb over her shoulder.

"Time for lunch," She said with a tilt of her head, motioning for him to follow her. She led him into the back kitchen and passed the cook who nodded at Maggie with a grin on his face, his head bobbing to some type of music that came from a rectangular object above one of the fryers. They walked into a small room with a table and chairs, a pair of plates with food stacked on both laid there for the both of them, Maggie motioning for him to take a seat.

"You did a pretty damn good job out there this morning," She offered after sitting, grabbing a potato chip and crunching on it loudly.

A smug smirk spread proudly over the man's face, lifting his sandwich and taking a healthy bite as she did, his eyes widening slightly. "This is delicious," He admitted before he could stop himself, his mouth full of food and Maggie laughed.

"That's Gabe for you," She said with a smile. "Makes some of the best food in town. Try a potato chip, they always go best with a sandwich."

Loki did without a word, nodding quickly with his eyes cast down on his plate. Maggie chuckled again, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "You're allowed to enjoy something while you're here you know."

Without a word he glanced at her as she leaned down and took another bite of her food, munching quite happily without a care in the world.

* * *

That night Loki collapsed in his bed, a soft sigh erupting from his lips as his head hit the pillow. He had just experienced the life of a servant - he, a prince parading about serving food to these lowly humans! It disgusted him to no end and according to that blasted woman he was to do it again tomorrow. He tugged at his raven locks, a frustrated groan wracking his body. He would have given anything else, even to be locked in the dungeons, so long as he was on Asgard. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the white ceiling, feeling the faded core of power deep inside of him that was out of reach. He wanted nothing more than to try and break Odin's suppressive spell that locked his only power within him, but from the day he had, he reserved no energy to attempt something so consuming. If only he was back in Asgard locked away, he would have been out of there in days with nothing else to do but bide his time, working within himself day in and out until he would be free. How much easier his revenge would be taken out that way. Now he was forced into something like this simply for the fact he needed a place to stay and food to eat - Maggie supplied him for every meal, his dinner waiting for him much like his lunch had that afternoon.

He growled lowly in frustration. That woman! That woman kept him here! He was a god, a prince, demoted to that of a lowly servant and it was all because of her. His anger smoldered from the thought, hating her from the very depths of his soul. She was probably laughing at his fate right now, the former god, leader of an army that would have wiped out the entire planet, reduced to a waiter to giggling human females. He sneered at the ceiling above him before huffing and rolling on his side. His green eyes scanned the empty room, silently wishing he had the Asgardian library at his disposal once more. He missed it the most, the musty smell of books and the silence. Oh, the solitude. How many countless hours did he spend there? Rising a few hours after dawn and not leaving until after dark - it was the best thing to look forward to when he awoke in the morning. Now he was truly stripped to nothing. No magic, no family, no crown and no books. Even his shoulders felt empty, the familiar weight of his cape leaving him unsure.

He wondered suddenly what his brother did when he came to Midgard, stripped of his title and thrown away just as he had wished it. He met that woman of course and he found out soon enough that he no longer could wield Mjolnir, but what did he do? He saw the crushed face of his usually boisterous half-brother when he told him he was no longer allowed in Asgard, but never did he believe he would receive the same fate. How cruel his father was to cast both of his sons, one always needing to return, but the other... was no longer needed. No, the plans that were made for him as a child were broken after his attempt to destroy the planet in which he was taken. He supposed that his ability to bring the two races together burned to ash when he struck Odin's staff into the Bifrost. His chest felt hollow at the thought.

Suddenly Loki felt the exhaustion overtake him (which thoughts of his father always did) and with another glance around the room he rolled onto his back again. Sighing heavily, he punched the pillow underneath his head, grumbling lowly when it did nothing but flatten the object more. Bouncing heavily, he turned towards the wall, wrapping his arms around himself as he allowed his mind rest and sleep overtook him.

* * *

"You're gonna love it," Maggie called over her shoulder, a large grin on her face as she walked the city streets, a bounce in her step. A pouting Loki followed, his step purposefully slow, Chase walking next to him, laughing lightly at the happy woman in front of them.

It had been almost a week since Loki had been cast out and he had been working every day in the blasted shop. Unusually he had humans warming up to his cold demeanor and he even had regular customers (all females) asking for him to serve them. Not that it made him happy or pleased at all, it just was... surprising. He treated every human coldly, but like Maggie and now Chase, he couldn't shake them. Though he was consistently tired the first few days, he began to grow used to pacing the floors of the shop back and forth wielding plates of food and drinks. Grown so used to it in fact that the past few nights he even had the chance to begin his battle with the curse placed upon him. He got nowhere, of course, Odin was the all-father after all and his spells were not of some weak sorcerer, Loki had some work ahead of him.

Unfortunately on a day like today he would have been able to make some type of progress, but Maggie had showed up at his door with Chase in tow, claiming he needed to find some new clothes. He wasn't sure why he needed anymore, but he found after this woman made a decision it was difficult to sway her from it. So, tugging him from his room they walked the city streets, the god feeling quite exposed to the mass of humans walking around him, unsure if anyone would recognize him as the one who nearly overtook the world. He was a murderer here on Earth and like every civilization it was always... frowned upon.

"Here we go," Maggie said proudly, shaking Loki of his thoughts of torture and brutality, all with him at the center of the carnage. They stood in front of a large building with several glass windows showing off different pieces of clothing from dresses to suits. Pulling open the door Maggie headed inside, Chase and Loki following, eyeing the racks of clothes around them.

"Mens is back here," Maggie called, already at the back of the store, waving like a mad woman like they couldn't already see her.

"Hmm," The woman hummed as Loki walked up next to her. "I'm not sure what you're style would be like." She glanced at him, eyeing his body up and down before looking back at the rack in front of her. She grabbed a few things, holding them up to the slouching god (scolding him for doing so) and flipping them over her arm. She piled the clothes she chose into a tiny room with several mirrors, grinning at the clothes Chase brought over and adding them to the mix.

After Loki was shoved into the room, he was forced to show the now sitting Maggie and Chase every piece of clothing they picked, watching them react quite comically to their sneering or jeering faces at one piece of fabric after another. By the end of it all, he was more exhausted than he was at the end of a normal day acting as a servant. After leaving, all with bags in hand, they went to a small restaurant with an open patio, Maggie insisting to sit outside for the fresh air.

"Well that was fun," Maggie commented with a grin after they sat and ordered drinks, Loki finding it quite pleasant to be the one waited on again. "You got some really nice clothes there Lance."

He winced at the name, never truly growing used to it.

"Yea now people won't wonder why you're in the same shirt and pants every day," Chase laughed and Maggie hit him in the arm, sending him a stern glare. Loki watched this exchange with mild interest.

"Was that the reason for all of this?" He asked, gesturing at the bags that surrounded the trio.

Maggie glared at Chase a second more before turning to Loki. "I noticed some of your regulars were noticing," She said with a shrug. "I can't have employees turning my customers away because you wear the same thing every day."

Loki cocked an eyebrow at the woman beside him, wondering how it was that she noticed such a thing when she was always so busy tending to customers at the counter. Never once did he find the woman standing still unless she was sitting at a meal with him, even then leaving before him and slipping back out to take care of people that were waiting. Silently he asked her why she was watching out for him, but dismissed the thought when her words filtered back to him. Her customers, she said. If anything this woman was business savvy and if that meant getting her employee's wardrobe in shape, so be it. He was ridiculous for even attempting to think otherwise, not that he ever would. He was a god amongst mortals after all.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Thanks everyone to the reviews/alerts/faves! It meant loads and gave me a boost to write this one out :3 It's a little bit longer than normal, but I couldn't cut the ending for this one any shorter, once again you'll see why! Let me know what you guys think, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize._

* * *

They ate slowly, Chase and Maggie talking and laughing, Maggie aiding Loki in dodging questions from the ever curious Chase. Unsure as to why, the man had been nicer to Loki as the week went on and from what he noticed, took everything that Maggie said as pure truth. He never questioned a lick of the story she wove, smiling at Loki as she did so. He wasn't the only one with a silver tongue apparently.

When they left Loki took his time in the city streets, eyeing the buildings around him and the shops and restaurants they held, some like the places he visited today and others holding some very strange things indeed. All the while people hustled passed him and the giant vehicles puttered on, crying out obnoxiously as they went. Maggie and Chase walked in front of him, glancing back at the slacking god behind them.

"Have you never been in New York before?" Chase asked from in front of him, drawing his attention.

"Yes," Loki said simply, going back to looking around himself. "But it wasn't a very good visit."

Suddenly the god stopped, his eyes falling on something he thought he'd never see. Ignoring his companion's calls, he walked up to the carts full of books, beautiful, musty books that cracked when he opened one, the yellowing pages sending waves of pleasure through his entire body as he ran his fingers over the black print. Just outside there were many books, but as he wandered inside oh! The rows he had grown so fond of back home, how he loved feeling enclosed by the towering structures, surrounded by scholars long since past. He ran his fingers along spines, tugging a few from their places, opening to the front and scanning the pages quickly to see what magic they held.

"You're a bookworm, huh?"

He started when Maggie spoke, her blue eyes glancing up at him from his shoulder. His eyebrows knit together, shutting the worn cover in his hands and replacing the tome back in its place amongst its brothers.

"A bookworm?" He questioned, picking up the bags he dropped.

"Someone who likes books," She said simply with a shrug.

"I am that, I suppose."

"So ambiguous," She muttered with a smile and then turned. "Come on, I have something you'll love."

Loki hesitated, eyeing the shelves around him, feeling like a child that was about to have something precious taken from him. After a moment, he followed, allowing her to lead them back to the apartment, throwing his bags to the floor and walking back out in the opposite direction of which they had come. They didn't walk long before Maggie lead them up a set of stone steps and into a large, ancient looking building that looked nothing like the steel and glass they had been walking by all day. Stepping through the vast hallways, Maggie threw her arms out, gesturing out to the building around them, grinning at Loki as she said: "Enjoy!"

It was like setting lose a starving man upon a feast. After gaining his bearings as to what genre of book went where, he set up shop right in the middle of a set of book cases, just as he did in the royal palace, towering stacks surrounding him with several texts open around him. He blatantly ignored the hard glares from people walking around him, his eyes scanning page after page, his mind reeling from the information he collected. He had a lot of work to do and though the essays of sorcerer's were nowhere in this library, he found plenty of information he could utilize while he stayed on this planet. Silently he poured over history books of this country and others, finding a few "mythical" tomes of his home planet as well as a few others he'd known since a child. He gave a few chuckles at their inaccuracy, but enjoyed them just the same.

Maggie and Chase on the other hand, sat at a wooden table not far from where Loki sat, barely visible to the world around him, only showing signs of living with a flip of a page or soft laugh, scoff or snort. Maggie smiled to herself as she watched, her chin cradled in the palms of her hands, a useless book opened randomly in front of her. She could care less of the words on the page, finding the mystery person she housed in her building far more interesting than she ever expected. Sure he was beyond pompous and she had yet to hear a thank you for the clothes she bought him that day, but she was pretty certain if there was ever a thank you to be had it would have been after showing him the library. She wasn't going to hold her breath however.

"You sure are staring," Chase said in front of her.

"Well it is kind of funny to watch, don't you think?"

"I'm not really finding the humor in it."

"Oh common," She huffed, leaning back in her chair. "He looks like a kid in a candy store, it's the most human he's been since he moved in."

Chase looked down the aisle at the hidden figure, his face poking out from the stacks of bound paper, his eyes alight as he scanned page after page. He frowned, looking back at the woman in front of him. "Don't see it."

"Liar," She laughed, smacking him lightly with the book she had out in front of her. "I like him better this way then with that stoic face he sports every time he works."

"The ladies don't seem to mind it," Chase said sourly and Maggie shook her head.

"Quit being jealous, you have plenty of regulars at the shop to come and see you."

"None as loud as his can get," He pointed out and she shrugged, offering him no solace. "You don't have a crush on him do you?"

"What?" Maggie asked, her head whipping to look at him. "Are you kidding? No way!"

"Ok good," He said. "I don't want another screaming fangirl of his."

"Nooo, no," She laughed, her curls bouncing as she shook her head.

"Then why are you so interested in him?"

"Well," She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "He's kinda like a really annoying clam shell that you want to bust open to take the big pearl inside."

Chase snorted. "Just watch it, you'll probably find a giant lump of goo instead."

Maggie laughed, apparently too loud for the patrons of the library, all turning to shush her from her sudden outburst. Leaning into the table, the both of them giggled, trying to be as quiet as they could, their bodies shaking from their mirth. Unbeknownst to them, silently a pair of green eyes watched from a short distance away, studying them and himself at the twinges of feelings that ran down his spine, not knowing what any of them meant.

* * *

Over the next several days Loki took trips to the library after his shift, taking his time there as he read, even accessing a computer and logging on to something called the world wide web. This he found rather interesting - especially the amount of information he was privy to whilst on such a thing. Even typing in his own name yielded a significant amount of information (most of it hateful and wrong, but humorous none the less). By clicking through a few things he even came upon pages completely devoted to each of the Avengers and even one devoted to him. He spent several hours carousing those sites, vanity his only reason for staying there so long.

Nothing, however showed him the information he truly needed. He always left frustrated, gaining plenty of information that he could use, but nothing to actually throw his plan into any kind of motion. He continued working on the spell Odin cast on him, but there was no fructuation. He strode through the streets of New York like a hell beast, his face cast in a deep frown, heading back to the shop and shoved the door open, the bell above him ringing roughly.

"Hey there!"

His head snapped the doorway leading into the kitchen, Maggie's head poking out and waving, her cheeks smeared in white. "Common in the kitchen." She disappeared a second later Loki huffing lowly before moving among the maze of tables and chairs, finding Maggie wrist deep in a mound of fluffy dough.

"Pull up a stool," She offered, tossing her head in the corner, Loki given no choice but to oblige. "What's up with the face?"

"Pardon?"

"You look much... unhappier than normal," She glanced over at him through a few of her curls while his frown deepened. He wasn't very fond of how perceptive this woman was - of him especially, seeming to read him better as the days passed. His mind worked quickly, choosing his words carefully.

"Things haven't been working very well since I've arrived here," He said after a moment, talking lowly.

Maggie wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, smearing more flour as she did so. "Not necessarily," She offered, continuing when the god stayed silent. "Well, you have a place to live, food to eat and clothes on your back. You came here with nothing, I'd say you did a pretty good job so far."

Loki snorted, casting his gaze to the side, his arms crossing. "None of it matters if I am not in Asgard."

Maggie shook her head, going back to kneading her dough. "If you look at it that way then yea your life sucks."

His head shot up, glaring at her heatedly.

"But if you quit looking at the things you don't have and look at the things you do, the world is bathed in a whole different color," She shrugged, ignoring the stabbing glare coming from her side. "Everything else comes with time, you might even figure out some way to head home."

Loki stood from his stool, his arms falling from his chest as he took on a defensive stance. "How do you know of such things?"

Maggie laughed, turning to him and sliding a hand on her hip. "Please," She rolled her eyes. "You're far too easy to read, find some way to get back into Asgard so you can do your revenge thing. Probably using your brother in some way to do so."

Loki sat back down in his stool slowly, keeping his green eyes locked on the woman in front of him with her proud smirk. She didn't know his plan, but she knew he had a plan. He wasn't quite sure if this should provide relief or not, assuming she knew the reasons he left to the library each night as he did. Suddenly a thought hit him.

"How do you know such things of me and my brother?"

"The news," She said simply, turning from him and kneading her dough again, glancing over at him. "The two demi-gods caused quite the stir here on Earth."

Loki quirked an eyebrow, not quite believing her, but unsure why.

"So is everything in the story books true?" She asked over her shoulder. "Or is it all made up crap that some guy wrote down a long time ago?"

"Not all of it," Loki admitted, arching his head back slightly, his arms crossing again. "But these books still believe me to be the son of Odin, which I am not."

"Whose son are you?"

"Laufey's son," He wasn't surprised when her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "He was a frost giant who live on the planet Jotunheim."

"So you're a frost giant?" She questioned and he nodded stiffly. "How did you end up on Asgard then?"

"My father took me from the frost giants at the time of war and brought me to Asgard," His eyes cast to the floor. "There I was raised in Thor's shadow."

"How so?"

Loki sighed. "Thor was destined for the throne to rule over all of Asgard, he was the golden child, the true heir to the all-father. I was the child of monsters."

"And everyone knew of this since you were little?" She asked, grabbing a few large, flat metal pans.

"They didn't."

"Then how did they treat you differently if they didn't know?" She casted him an innocent look over her shoulder.

"Because I was not the loud, excitable Thor that people adored each and every time he walked into a room. I was the brother who practiced magic and read in the library, not looked upon with so much favor by the all-father for I was never his son."

Maggie had stopped her baking and gazed silently at the man before her, surprised by his brutal honesty, but not at the seething rage that coursed through his body. She glanced at her fingers dowsed in thick fluffy powder and then at the god. Without thinking she lifted her fingers to Loki's nose and quite forcefully pushed it in, smearing the flour all over his face. Loki threw his head back, his mouth opening and closing in thick confusion. She couldn't help it, Maggie started to giggle, her white hand covering her mouth as she did so, unsure what he would do, but the look on his face was beyond priceless. Glancing at the bowl on the table, Loki dipped his entire hand in, throwing it quite forcefully back at the giggling woman. His guffaws replaced hers as she spat flour from her mouth, dragging her hands over her face.

They were gone after that, Maggie grabbing hold of the bowl and tossing handfuls of flour at him, while he searched the kitchen, finding raisins and cinnamon and throwing them right back. The kitchen was a mess in seconds and the only thing heard outside of it was the screeches and laughter from the pair inside.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thanks again for everyone who reviewed, you truly make my day! Well this chapter didn't come as quickly as the last one, but I'm happy with it none-the-less. And actually after this it looks like there's only going to be about three/four chapters left. So exciting, but let me know what you think of this one!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize._

* * *

Maggie walked from her bathroom, towel drying her hair as she went, happy to get the thick baking goods off of her body. She let Loki go first, completely covered in white and then sprayed down by the sink hose, the thick goo dripping off his body quickly snubbing the fight they were having. She watched silently as he sat on her couch, brow furrowed with the television remote in hand, seeming to have found the button that changed the channels. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to smother the laughter that was trying to breach her lips, the look on the man's face as he went through channel after channel could level any normal person. For once he looked normal, like a mask had slipped from his face just as it did when they were in the library, the innocent look of a child replacing the cool, calculating, haunted look he had since she'd met him. She still wasn't quite sure what she was thinking allowing him to eat here, work here... live here.

He was the man who attempted a takeover of the Earth - her home! And now he rested his head in the floor below, hell she even bought clothes for him. She knew he wanted off of this planet and back to Asgard, she wasn't sure it was the best thing to tell him she knew, but she could see the looks he gave her at times. He thought she was an idiot especially when she was telling lies, lies he believed someone else would see through in an instant. It made her heart burn in anger, but her actions that followed such a thing surprised her. She wanted to prove him wrong. Wanted him to see how he was not the only one who could pull one over on humans, she especially had been doing it most of her life.

She moved further into the room, running her hands through her lose curls, the water taking the thick ringlets and hanging them heavily on her head. She took a seat on the couch next to Loki, the god ignoring her completely, still flipping through all of her channels, stopping at those he designated interesting before continuing on, his mouth unhinged as he did so.

"What is that?" He finally acknowledged her, pointing at the screen, his eyes never moving away.

"That's a cartoon show," She said.

"Cartoon show?" He looked back at her, assessing her face quickly before turning back to the screen.

"Yea instead of live action people draw out characters and film them in quick succession."

Loki scoffed. "Humans made this?"

"Yes, they did."

He snorted, shaking his head before continuing his channel surfing, Maggie shaking her head at him with a small smile.

"So what did you used to do for fun on Asgard?"

The man glanced at her, an eyebrow raised before turning back again, looking down at the remote in his hand. "I was usually in the library, but my brother never deemed something as such 'fun,'" He said bitterly.

"Why not?" She asked with a shrug, earning another glance from the god.

"For my brother believed training and engaging in mock-battles was much more entertaining than reading in a library."

"I hate to say this," Maggie said. "But your brother sounds like a meat head."

Loki's eyes were on her and she couldn't help but smile from his confusion. "A meat head is someone who is more brawn over brain."

He nodded slowly, blinking. "Then yes, I suppose he is a meat head."

Maggie giggled from the slow way he said the phrase, concentration creasing his forehead.

"And are you a meat head?" He asked after a moment.

"I'm not very sure," She admitted, her head tilting to one side. "You'll have to tell me one day."

* * *

The next day after lunch break Maggie and Chase lounged in the middle of the restaurant, talking and laughing lightly while Loki stood at the counter, wiping glasses absentmindedly. The crackling of the radio could be heard in the kitchen, Gabe singing along as he cleaned.

"I can't believe you said that," Maggie laughed, shaking her head as Chase recounted one of his nightly exploits of dating in the city.

"Why not?" He countered, a confused look on his face.

"You should never say something like that to someone on the first date," Maggie chuckled, Chase still looking horribly confused.

"But it seemed like the perfect time," He muttered.

"You just met her and committed dating suicide by saying 'I love you,' it was definitely too soon."

Chase sat in his chair, completely confused and mulling in his own thoughts, neither of them noticing the person who walked into the restaurant.

"Ooh Chase, you probably shouldn't be taking dating advice from our dear Maggie."

Maggie's head shot up like a gun went off, her entire body stiffening and her blue eyes flashed to the tall man who walked in. His dark, almost black eyes glanced over the woman in front of him, a haughty, smug smirk spread over his face. Chase looked up at the man with a slack jaw, his eyes flashing between the pair, Loki behind them, his glass wiping slowing to a crawl.

"Hey there Magg's," His smug smile widened, his tongue slithering out and licking his lower lip.

Maggie jumped from her chair like something had bit her, her back strong and shoulders back. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched, her voice coming out in a low hiss as she spoke. "You."

The man brought his hands up, his lips falling slightly. "Whoa, whoa I call a truce!"

"I told you to never come in here again," She growled, advancing on him like a prowling cat.

"Common Maggie," He faltered, taking a step back. "I just came in to say hi and help out with the business a bit!"

"Nothing good can come from you being here," Her voice was rising as her confidence grew with each back step he took. "When I told you NOT to come back, that meant EVER!"

"Hey-"

With a shove he was out of the shop, Maggie slamming the door shut behind him, the bell ringing in the deafening silence of the room. Her back stayed to the rest of the room, her shoulders sagging for just a minute before once again her back straightened, her head thrown back and she turned from the door, shooting harsh glares at the men staring at her.

"Get back to work."

With that she stalked behind the counter, brushing roughly past Loki as she went, nearly knocking the glass from his hands as she did. He watched her as she disappeared through the kitchen door, Gabe even silent from her foul mood.

"What just happened?" Loki asked after he was sure the woman was out of earshot, Chase still gazing open mouthed at the kitchen doorway, coming to when Loki spoke.

"Uh... dude, that was the guy you share a name with."

Loki sent him a blank stare, wondering the significance of sharing someone else's name (even if it was fake).

"Lance... Maggie's ex boyfriend," Chase said after a pause, Loki's frown deepening.

"And this was bad?" He asked.

"Did you not see Maggie's reaction right then?" Chase whispered harshly, his hand extending to the door the woman disappeared through. "Of course it was bad! The guy cheated on her multiple times and had the balls to come back in here like he freaking owned the place!"

Sifting through the slang, Loki could only assume that the man who left caused Maggie an extensive amount of pain. His shoulders stiffened slightly at the thought, his stomach twisting in knots for reasons he wasn't very sure of. His brow furrowed, the glass in his hands plopping softly on the counter in front of him. What did he care if this woman was hurt by another? It was her fault for trusting a man such as that, wasn't it? He eyed the kitchen and completely ignoring the still blathering Chase, turned and headed through the doorway, earning a silent nod from Gabe as he passed. He walked into the break room, finding Maggie with her head in her hands slouched over the wooden table, her back to him as he walked inside. He took a soft breath, hesitating in the doorway.

"No I don't want to talk about it."

Loki jumped slightly from Maggie's harsh tone, unsure how she heard him, positive he had been quiet when he entered.

"I wasn't here to discuss your emotions," Loki said flatly, the brunette turning in her chair, a shocked look on her face.

"You?" A smile broke on her face, her hand covering it as she shook her head. "I can't believe you're the one who followed me. It sounded like Chase at the door."

Loki frowned at being compared to the bumbling idiot, but took a seat next to her anyway, laying his arms on the table in front of him. "While I lived in Asgard my brother had a habit of sleeping with as many women as he could, courting multiple ladies in waiting and even some of the help around the castle. None were impervious to his charm."

Maggie snorted, leaning her elbow on the table, still facing him. "Are you trying to cheer me up?"

"I'm trying to tell you of my brother," Loki said pointedly, glaring at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Go ahead," She chuckled.

"There were a few women who found out of my brother's lustful tendencies," Loki sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Some of them grew angry with him, while others allowed this to happen, just happy to have the future king of Asgard on their arm and in their bed for the time."

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked pointedly, her sour mood sprouting again.

"Because some of these women tried courting me in order to get to my dear brother," He said just as hotly, his head turning away from her.

Maggie gazed at the back of Loki's head, her blue eyes following the angle of his neck and curve of his back. She hated the fact she acted this way each time Lance waltzed into her life. He had done so not that long ago, unbeknownst to Chase, as she walked the streets of the city. She was forced to be congenial, a woman on Lance's arm, a smile plastered to her face. Her heart ached at the thought, not because he was with another woman, but because she wore that same smile when she held onto that arm. How happy she was to have that man, the memories still sneaking into her consciousness from time to time of their laughs together, the trips they enjoyed and the love she thought they shared. He had asked her to marry him and slipped a ring on her finger, but everything fell to pieces after Chase came to her, the worried look he had that day still burned into her memory. She couldn't believe what he told her and walked out into the streets to find out herself, her heart dropping to the pavement when she found him kissing another woman in broad daylight. It had been so long since everything had happened, yet it was like ripping a scab off and bleeding all over again with his appearance. She could only imagine the scar it would finally leave.

She sighed softly, inching forward in her chair and laying her head on Loki's shoulder, feeling him stiffen at the contact. "We're both fucked aren't we?"

He paused for a minute, his head drooping. "What does that mean?"

She smiled, lifting her head and looking him in the eye. "We're broken."

He nodded, swallowing and looked back to the wall in front of him, allowing Maggie to lay her head back on his shoulder, thinking to himself it would only be but for a minute and no longer.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: Okay guys, just wanted to post this before the holidays (for those of us in the states) began, I'm sure most of you will be very pleased, you'll see why. I hope everyone is enjoying so far, Loki is by far one of the best characters to play with, it's almost sad this will be ending soon. As always let me know what you think!_

_And by the way _Fat Old Son _- I think if Loki found tumblr (*ahem* TOMblr) he would have run back to Asgard lol.__  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. WARNING - adult content!_

* * *

He was finished.

His plan was finally, painstakingly finished.

He was in the library again, being forced from his position the night before by the librarian who was closing, his piles of books in the same place they'd been for days. He looked up from the book he was reading, everything in his head clicking together like the perfect puzzle. The past few nights he had been able to draw a spark to his fingers, the first signs of magic since he had been banished to this life, the curse upon him lifting enough for him to see the fine cracks that rippled through from his efforts. He didn't have all of his power back, oh no, but soon. Yes, soon he would be the man - the God he was before and he would set forth his plan as he had intended all those weeks ago.

His breath caught in his throat at the thought of the time he'd spent on this planet. Had it really been that long? All those days of servicing humans weighed heavily in his mind, but the other times, the time he spent with Chase and Maggie - above all else Maggie - had him reflecting on that time in a different light. How could that have happened? On a daily basis the pair conversed and she was bleeding herself into his memory like a stain. How much he thought of her unnerved the prince, especially since above all else he believed she never thought of him as such. He felt like a blathering girl alone in his room thinking of his time with her, enjoying himself and even cracking the rarest of smiles in front of her.

_ "My god!"_

_ Chase and Maggie both looked at one another and then back at Loki._

_ "Did you really just crack a smile?" She asked, leaning towards him._

_ "I think he just did Magg's."_

_ "He can feel happiness! We did it Chase!"_

_ "We created a being who can feel!"_

He rolled his eyes at the thought, snapping shut the book on his lap, lying it on the tall pile to his left. He hung his head in his hands, pressing his fingers into his temples to ease the memories that surged through his brain, all vying for his attention. He brushed them aside, his plan was finished! He could go home and... what? Try to attack the Asgardians that would see him coming and take him down? Go back to the people who were responsible for his torture since his childhood? Yes the idea of killing a few of the so-called gods sat pleasantly in the back of his mind, but blue eyes made him hesitate for too long a time. How could he perform such a task with such a distraction in mind?

Sighing roughly, Loki lifted himself from the library floor and trudged his way back to Maggie's shop, seeing the kitchen light on as he walked inside and hearing the ring of Maggie's voice as she sang. Quietly he moved to the doorway, watching the woman bounce and dance through the kitchen, moving fluidly, happily as she always was.

"Hey Loki!" She sang, turning to find him spacing out in the kitchen doorway, using his name when they were alone. "Why're you here so early? Shouldn't you still be at the library makin' up your plans?"

"That can wait for now," He lied, waving his hand to dismiss the conversation.

Maggie tilted her head to the side, smiling at him apologetically before turning back to her table and thick mound of dough, making her bagels as she did each night. Loki walked up next to her, watching her as her small hands pushed into the thick mass over and over, her shoulders rising and pushing her chest out from the effort.

"Can I help?"

"Huh?"

Loki nodded to the dough at her hands. "Would you like some help?"

She stared at him shocked before nodding, stepping to the side as he took her position. "Here," She offered, sprinkling some flour onto his hands. "So the dough doesn't stick to your fingers."

He pushed at the dough as he had seen her do every night, earning a small laugh from the woman next to him as he did so.

"Sorry," She said, shaking her head. "You look like you don't work your hands all that much."

"I told you," He said stiffly. "I work with magic, the hard labor is of the mind, not body."

"Right, right," She nodded, then after watching him for a minute. "You technique is almost there, here watch."

She took the dough from his hands and worked it slowly, showing him how she moved her hands and arms. "You want to fold it after you push your hands into it, you kinda looked like you wanted to beat it."

"That would be easiest," He huffed, doing as she showed him.

"The easiest isn't always the right way to do things."

He looked up at her and she simply smiled, moving to the back of the kitchen and grabbing her trays, laying down thin paper on each before shooing his hands from the dough. "You did good, we got to form some bagels now."

They worked slowly, Maggie directing him where it was needed, their hands plastered in flour and bits of dough, the time flying as they worked side by side. When the last of the trays were in the oven she walked up to him with two glasses, offering him one and leaning against the baking table.

"Thanks for the help," She toasted, taking a small sip of her glass. Loki nodded, taking a sip of his own glass, his eyebrows rising from the obvious flavor.

"Alcohol?" He questioned. "When have we been allowed to serve alcohol?"

"My own secret stash that is not so secret," She said with a wink. "Save it for special occasions."

He looked at her quizzically. "This was a special occasion?"

"Hell yea!" She laughed. "You just helped me out, that's fucking amazing!"

He shook his head, the smallest of smiles inching the corners of his lips up. At the sight of it, Maggie lifted her glass again, grinning.

"And a toast to me for getting the God of Sour Faces to smile!"

They moved out to a table in the sitting room, the bottle of alcohol between them, the mixer they used long gone as they took straight shots, the drink affecting them both.

"Oh my god the look on your face!" Maggie guffawed, recounting the time Loki had first walked into the shop. "You looked like you were gonna friggin KILL me!"

They both laughed, Loki forgetting himself for the first time in his life.

"If I could have I might have," He chuckled, Maggie thrusting her glass into the air, alcohol pouring down her arm in the process.

"Here's to not being killed!"

"Here, here!"

They both threw their heads back, glasses slamming on wood as their faces twisted from the taste more from habit, their taste buds long since numb.

"Y'know I would never ina million years imagine myself drinking next to you like this," She said, shaking her head.

"The same thoughts have run through my head," He nodded.

"Welp," She leaned back in her chair. "I know this probably isn't the best thing to say, but I'm actually glad you did what you did."

He gazed at her, his brain kicking in gear to feel the shock of her words.

"Cause if you didn't you wouldn't have been banished and we wouldn't have met," She looked back at him. "And I'm glad to have met you."

He stared at her, an incredulous look on his face from her admission. Never had he been told something with such honesty, especially from a woman. Their words were typically thick with sinister intentions, but Maggie? She spoke to him with pure innocence that made his chest ache and his fingers tingle. She was everything he had never been and never shared with another and her words hung in the air tenderly.

Suddenly everything seemed fine, his banishment, the people of Asgard, his brother, his father - none of it mattered anymore. The plan flew through his mind briefly, but he pushed it aside, allowing this feeling - these beautiful, unaltered feelings - to flow through him. Loki gazed at her, his hand coming up and cupping her cheek, her tender flesh meeting his, their eyes locked.

"Say it again," He whispered, his voice thick.

She blinked, hesitating for but a second before she spoke, her voice as tender as her skin. "I'm glad to have met you."

His lips met hers in a flash, his hand moving behind her neck as her arms draped around his shoulders, her fingers sifting through his raven locks. She groaned as he bit her lip, allowing him to tug her to her feet, their bodies coming together roughly. His hands sunk into her hips, one dragging up her spine and tugging her head back by her hair, their lips parting. She gasped as he nipped the sensitive skin on her neck and along her collar bone, her hips grinding into his as her eyes rolled. When their lips met again, Maggie tugged the pair to the stairs, somehow managing the stairs without parting or falling. When they opened his door, he shoved her roughly against the wall, pinning her hands above her head as he drew his lips over her body.

She groaned softly, her hips rubbing against him, her blue eyes burning into his. Growling lowly he pulled her from the wall and threw her to his bed, climbing on top of her and pinning her there, his lips crashing back into hers. Her hands worked his button down shirt, tugging it off of him and feeling the smooth skin under her fingers. When his hands delved under her shirt she raked her fingers down his back, Loki biting her shoulder in return, both of them crying out, their breathing rough as their clothes littered the floor. She screamed when he entered her, her chest thrusting up and her back arching, forcing him even deeper. Her legs wrapped around him and his hands gripped her shoulders as he moved, their sweat intermingling, neither knowing where one body started and the other ended. She cried out his name when she came, her head thrown back from the pleasure and he followed soon after, his head burying in the crook of her neck. Their chests heaved and she laced her fingers in his hair, kissing the side of his face and down his neck, allowing him to lie atop her as they both soaked in what they had just done. Neither believing they would have done this sober, but allowing the emotions to wash over the both of them none-the-less.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! I wasn't very surprised for the swell of fave's/alert's from the last chapter, but appreciated none-the-less! Thanks as always to those who reviewed, you always make my day. :3 We're coming down to the last couple of chapters - hopefully everything will be completed within the next couple of weeks. Hope everyone's holiday was fun in the states!_

_Lemme know what you think!  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize._

* * *

When Loki awoke the next morning he was alone in his own bed, sprawled over his covers with a massive, thundering headache. He groaned when he rolled over, holding his head in his hands as he rose slowly, throwing his legs over the side of the mattress. He glanced around the room and noticed a tall glass of water on his wooden night stand - one of the few pieces of furniture he had in the room, a pair of white pills resting next to it. Assuming it was medicine Maggie had left him, he popped the pair and threw his head back, guzzling the water and wiping his mouth with his arm.

It was then that his mind slowly began to remember what occurred the night before.

He fell back in bed, groaning as he did so. Memories flashed in his mind... coming in after the library... drinking... Maggie... laughing... Maggie... kissing... Maggie bringing him upstairs... falling to bed...

He groaned again, his hand over his eyes. He really did that with her, he honestly couldn't believe it. They were both drunk, he rationalized, they wouldn't have done anything like that if they were sober... right?

And on top of it all - where was she?

He glanced around the room again, noticing the bathroom door was still open and there was no place for the woman to hide in such a tiny, open apartment. He huffed softly to himself, knowing he should be cleansing himself and preparing for his day as a servant yet again, but at that moment, he couldn't care. So he rolled over in his bed and fell back to sleep.

* * *

A few hours later Maggie unlocked the front doors, Chase not far behind her, tying his apron around his waist.

"Where's Lance, Magg's?"

She shrugged, keeping her eyes down until she waltzed past him. "No clue, up in his room maybe?"

"Do you want me to go get him?" He called, following her as she walked into the kitchen, pulling her apron from the wall. "I mean we just opened up, maybe he's just sleeping in or something?"

"I don't know!" She cried, flipping her hair down her back, sending Chase a withering look. "I don't know what he's doin' up there Chase and I really don't care what."

"Whoa," He held his hands up. "I was just wondering Maggie, no need to yell."

She sighed roughly, drawing a hand over her face. "Just... just go take care of shit out front, I've got stuff to do back here."

He left quickly, sending her a confused glare as he did so.

Maggie huffed lowly, running a hand through her hair as she slid into a hip.

"I hope this isn't a bad time, dear lady."

Maggie jumped, spinning around to find the All-father, his hands clasped behind his back, his one eye glinting in amusement. He donned his silver and red armor instead of his normal gold, but he still shined in unearthly light.

"All-father," Maggie nodded, her closed fist crossing her chest and she bowed slightly in respect.

"Please," He waved his hand. "We are not in court, I believe here on Midgard you are allowed to get away without such formalities."

She nodded quietly, her hand dropping.

"So," Odin began, glancing around the kitchen and smiling down at her. "How have you been since my dear son has joined you?"

"Just fine sire," She nodded, her eyes cast down to the floor. "He has been very helpful while he's been here."

Odin frowned from Maggie's monotone. "Then why is it," He stepped forward, lifting her chin so she was forced to meet his eye. "That you seem so low in spirits my dear?"

"My own feelings I am to deal with," She said, waiving him off, her arms crossing over her chest.

The all-father shrugged, allowing the smaller woman to turn away. "Your time here on Midgard is coming to an end, it is something to look forward to." He smiled over at her and she grimaced in return.

"Sire," She said, turning to face him. "I actually wish to speak to you over this matter."

"Of course."

"I..." She wrung her hands. "I would prefer to stay here on Midgard sir, with Loki."

Odin's eyebrows rose at the confession, unbelieving it himself even if it was he who heard it.

"Stay here? With my son?"

"He's doing so well here," She offered. "Why must he go back to a place where he always felt in the shadows? I wouldn't wish to return, besides..." She ran a hand through her hair, glancing up at Odin through her eyelashes. "I enjoy having him here."

Odin smiled warmly, sending her a knowing look. "I believe that is the first time I've heard such things of my son," He turned, making to leave, his arms back behind his back. "Fine, for now your sentence is to be extended. To stay with my son."

He smiled, his form fading slowly, but she could still see the wide smile on his bearded face. "Enjoy your time with my dear son, Lady Sigyn."

Maggie sighed, hearing the distinct cry of a crowd in the main room, her body kicking into gear, slipping back into her normal attitude, preparing herself to aid Chase and satiate any egos she needed too. She smoothed her apron down and stepped out of the kitchen, raising her hands and voice as she did so, the crowd instantly soothing with her presence.

Just outside the second kitchen door where the stairs led up to the apartments, Loki sat watching silently. Long since the All-father left he sat there, hidden from the view of all those in the shop and kitchen, his eyes wide, his mouth slack. He didn't know what to think, what to do. He just sat there, in a silent daze, staring at the wooded flooring, his mind whirling. His eyes looked up to the door leading to the streets and in silent panic he ran to it, throwing it open and throwing himself out into the busy city streets. He felt even more suffocated out here than he did in the building and he had no idea where he was, so he ran to the only place he knew - the library.

It was there that his mind began to sift through the haze for him to think. Everything became so clear to him there. Maggie was a servant of his father and she was his caretaker. The thought made him sick. That was the reason why she didn't seem surprised when he told her his name, she was expecting him to show up there. The empty room, knowing of his family and life in Asgard, it wasn't information an Earthling would know! He felt stupid for not noticing sooner, for overlooking so much in this woman simply for what? Her beauty? He scoffed, familiar feelings surfacing from the pit of his stomach. Over his time on Earth he was dealing with moods that he had never felt before, but this? This he knew. The sour taste of betrayal in the back of his throat, the heat of anger coursing through his veins - yes, he knew these things so well.

He gazed down at his hands, flexing the curse on him more than he had been allowing himself to in the past several weeks for fear the All-father would notice, but now he did not care. The cracks that he had been stressing over the past few weeks finally, thankfully gave way and his hands glowed a strong, glorious green.

"What the hell?"

He looked up, a patron of the library spotting the glow easily in the nearly deserted library. Loki stood, a sickly smile upturning one side of his face.

"Oh no Earthling," He growled, his body shimmering gold as finally he was allowed to don his Asgardian armor of gold, black and green. "You do not know of hell yet."

* * *

Maggie cried out when the ground shook, the few patrons in the shop dropping to the floor as the windows at the front of the shop shattered.

"What was that?" Chase cried out, clutching his ears from the loud sound.

"It sounded like an explosion!" Someone else cried.

Maggie's breath caught in her throat, looking back at Chase with wide eyes. "Get everyone into the basement now!" She cried, throwing her apron off and running out from behind the counter.

"Maggie wait!"

She stopped with his hand on her arm. "What the hell are you going to do out there?"

She gazed at him, his worried eyes forcing her to hesitate for but a second, but she shook her head. "I don't know."

She ran out, her eyes scanning the skyline of the city. She saw the billowing black smoke rising amongst the buildings and took off down the street, making sure to keep her eyes open for anything - anyone else. When she found the source of the smoke, her heart dropped, a small crowd gathering, all with looks of horror on their faces. It was the library, the same one she had shown Loki so many weeks earlier, the one he had been brewing plans in every day since then and now the entire roof and west wall had been blown to bits, fire licking at the books and papers inside. Maggie glanced around knowing, no feeling, him there. There, behind the library in the thicket of foliage that had yet to catch flame, she saw him standing there, staring at her with a sick smile on his face.

Rage flew through her and she took off towards the trees, not expecting him to stay standing there as she ran.

"You fucking bastard!" She screamed, her arm drawing back and threw a punch, surprising herself when it connected. "How could you do this?" She cried out, her hands on his neck, angry tears in her eyes.

"Me?" He cried, not seeming affected by the pressure on his throat. "Such accusations from Odin's whore!"

Her face dropped, her eyes widening from his vicious words, her hands dropping from his neck.

"Oh," Loki cooed, his smirk returning. "Did not expect me to find out did you?"

He stepped forward, taking her throat in his own hand, lifting her up against a nearby tree, her face grimacing from the pressure, her hands on his wrist.

"How beautiful a play you both turned on me," He growled, his face close to hers. "And how bold of my father to try and turn a woman upon me."

She coughed and gagged when his hand tightened around her neck.

"Such a weak woman indeed," He sneered, ignoring the kicks she was delivering to his legs. "What is your true name?"

He dropped her and she crumbled at the roots of the tree, coughing and sucking in deep breaths, her eyes on him from where he towered over her.

"My name is Sigyn," She breathed. "And I was banished here to Earth by the All-father."

"And what were you to do with me?"

She straightened her spine, her chin jutting forward even in the predicament she was in. "When your punishment was to be sentenced Odin came to me and asked me to give you a place to live and a job, somewhere to start. I had no right to refuse him."

"So you were to be a caretaker," He spat and she shook her head.

"No," He glared down at her, but she continued. "Merely a stepping stone. I wasn't expecting you to do so well here, to talk to me, to... be with me."

Loki sneered down at her. "I don't believe you."

She stood finally, a hand on the tree behind her. "But it is the truth!"

He snorted, turning away from her. "You are no better than my dear family."

She watched him, her heart breaking and tears running down her face as he glowed, his golden helmet appearing on his head, his emerald cape catching the wind as his entire body began glowing green. "Rot on this forsaken planet you love so much."

And with that, he was gone.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! So this is officially the second to last chapter to the story! A little sad in my opinion, but thanks for those who have been reviewing, they always bring the biggest of smiles to my face :D. I would expect the last chapter to be up within the next few days - it is written for the most part, but I have a few kinks I need to work out. As always I hope everyone is enjoying this!__  
_

_Lemme know what you think!  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize._

* * *

Maggie was fairly proud of herself for the amount of time she held it together after Loki's disappearance. She headed back to the shop and found Gabe, Chase and the rest of her customers huddled in the basement, letting them up when she called a false alarm. Amazingly she fielded Chase's questions no sweat, but shooed everyone out into the streets, even telling Gabe and Chase to head home. Gabe simply shrugged and said he'd see her tomorrow, Chase on the other hand had to stay and chat. After deflecting the rest of his questions and nearly breaking her entire facade when he asked about Lance, she kicked him out the door with a simple 'tomorrow.' She locked everything and finally allowed her mask to slip. She sobbed, her face burying into her hands, her shoulders shaking, tumbling behind the counter and slipping down along the wall, curling in on herself on the floor.

Ever since Odin came to her with the - what did he call it? A proposition? She had called it a curse, taking care of the former brat prince, giving him a job and a place to live under her roof all because she had been expelled from Asgard for a series of thieveries (and escapes from the heavily guarded Asgardian prison). Odin claimed he didn't know what to do with her and since he refused to stop holding such grand parties for all of the wealthy (which is where she would steal mountains of jewels) and could not hold her in a cell longer than a few hours, banishment was the next step. She was thrown from the clouds and onto Midgard where she found stealing from the wealthy was not as easy a feat as she had grown used to. So she found work, a building to live in and when the old couple decided that owning a business was too much for them, they turned to their young protégé and handed down the entire building to her.

It was a dream after that, changing the name of the coffee shop to "Maggie's Place" and drawing in customers her own way, allowing the crowd of business people through unlike the former owners, knowing once in a while they would decide to stay for whatever their reasons. She was happy, happier than she had ever been on Asgard, she found friends that were true to her, a boyfriend that wasn't so much so, but she lived and learned as she never had before. When Loki came at first she dealt with him, wanting nothing more than to let him live his life without butting into hers. It didn't work that way however, she grew used to him and eventually intrigued with the banished prince, his happiness filling her with such pleasure it shocked her. The subtle looks in his face when he was pleased, annoyed, bored, everything. She wanted to know everything. Pride seeped through her bones when he first smiled, believing that maybe, just maybe he could be happy there on Earth, with her.

How selfish. How foolish.

Did she really believe he would never find out of her silent treachery? His father came to her to care for him, she lied to him about being mortal, of course he would feel betrayed just as he did on Asgard. She knew he might try to continue with his plan of revenge, it was entirely possible, but the past several days and the time they spent together was some of the happiest she'd ever seen him. Why did everything have to change? Why did it have to stop so quickly?

Maggie sat on the floor of her shop for hours, her tears eventually ceasing but her mind continuing to reel. She could only guess the havoc Loki was incurring upon the palace, never really telling her exactly what he had planned to do after he arrived home. Glancing at the clock, Maggie willed herself to finally leave the floor, knowing above all else she had to get the shop ready for tomorrow morning, she had sulked enough. Patting her cheeks and rubbing her hands on her jeans, she headed into the kitchen, grabbing her apron from the counter where she had flung it earlier and unraveling it. Slipping the strap over her head and tying it at her waist, she set to work, allowing the mindlessness that came with her baking. Silent tears slipped over her face as she glanced at the closed doors behind her, half expecting Loki to waltz through after his trip to the library just as he always did.

"I can't stand this," She whispered harshly, leaving her station and moving to Gabe's radio above the stove, fiddling with the damned thing to try and turn it on.

"Lady Sigyn!"

Her heart stopped at the sound, whirling to find none other than the queen of Asgard in her kitchen, her eyes wide and panicked.

"Queen Frigga!" Maggie bowed, but the Queen ran up and took her shoulders in her hands.

"Lady Sigyn, you have been the one who has taken care of my son while he stayed here, correct?"

"Yes m'lady," Maggie nodded.

"You must go to him," Frigga said in a hurried tone, her hands shaking, but it was Maggie who shook her head, turning from the Queen.

"I can't do that," She said softly.

"Of course you can!" The Queen cried. "The All-father said you and he were more friendly than any others have been with my son."

"Until yesterday," Maggie said, continuing when the Queen sent her a confused stare. "He found out about my betrayal, he doesn't want to see me anymore."

"Dear Lady," Frigga took Maggie's face in her hands. "Do you love my son?"

Maggie stared into the Queen's soft eyes, a shiver lancing up her spine as she nodded.

"Then show him your love," She said softly. "He has been let down by those he loves all of his years. Please, help him, show him what the love of a woman truly means once you have earned it. Please... save my dear son."

Maggie held her hand to the Queen's, willing her tears not to fall, feeling strength slip back into her bones as her back straightened, her shoulders rolling back.

"Where is he?"

* * *

Loki growled, twisting his head and arms from his binding, gaining no inch from the metal. He had been stripped, yet again of his armor and cast out, bound to rocks with a vicious snake above him. He held his eyes shut for every time the snake hissed, a drop of venom fell from its fangs and seared into his skin. He gritted his teeth when he heard the sound again, the now familiar burning pain spreading over his forehead. He growled, pulling at his restraints once more to no avail.

When he left Earth he disguised himself in the form of another, waltzing into the palace with little trouble. It was there that he found the gods and goddesses, so full of themselves and their adored, considered indestructible Balder. They threw things at him, chuckling amongst themselves, priding in their immortality. Anger flew through Loki like an electric current and he eyed Balder's beloved, blind brother Hod. He grinned wickedly, knowing of Balder's only weakness and went to Hod, handing him an arrow of mistletoe, watching as Balder was killed by his brother. A perfect ending in Loki's opinion, but the other gods frowned after finding him, laughing with tears falling down his face, bidding the all-father to bind him as he should have long before.

The look his father sent him when he casted him out for the second time, his mother silently weeping next to him. If only Maggie could see him now...!

He winced at her name... he couldn't help it, his thoughts always traveled back to that woman. His heart, for the first time, ached when he thought of her. Her smiling face danced through his mind's eye, making him want to do nothing more than curl into a ball. His time spent on Midgard was taken up with her, just her. Their night together sent a shiver down his spine, the taste of her, the feel of her against his skin... he could think of nothing else.

The pain radiating from his head zapped him back to the present, snubbing the low heat that burned within him. It reminded him of her treachery, her lies and deceit. It was all that consumed him, what made him change, handed Hod the arrow and guided that arrow into the chest of Balder.

Above him the snake hissed again and he prepared himself for another drop of venom. He waited, but it never came. After a moment, he cracked open an eye, amazed to find a basin being held above him. He followed the trail of arms holding the brown object, his eyes landing on the crying face of Maggie, her eyes closed with silent tears sliding down her red cheeks. He stared at her, disbelief ringing through him. Why was she here? How did she know?

Slowly her eyes opened and she looked down at the bound god, her hands shaking with the basin as she did so. Blue met green, Maggie looking more shameful than Loki thought possible.

"Why are you here?" He muttered.

She winced from his words, her eyes closing again. She sat there silently for a minute, sniffling and using one of her hands to wipe her cheeks.

"To help you," She said finally, her voice cracking.

"Why must I receive help from you?" He muttered.

Her eyes hardened as she gazed down at him. "Because I'm all you have."


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! This is it! The final chapter! This one is considerably longer than most, but for good reason of course. Thanks again to all of those who reviewed throughout this story, as with every writer on this site - it's always the biggest praise for someone to take their time and let us know what you think :). I hope everyone enjoys Maggie as much as I do (because let's face it, everyone loves some Loki ;D ) and as always - lemme know what you think!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize._

* * *

They sat in silence for the most part, Maggie moving only to throw the filled venom from the basin. Loki stubbornly kept his eyes averted from her, sneaking small glances here and there that he thought she wouldn't catch. He wasn't pleased with the fact the woman continued to cry, tears silently dripping down her cheeks as she sat beside him, her legs curled to her chest, her eyes closed and her head bowed. Every once in a while he noticed her hands began to shake with the weight of the basin, the question he had first asked her still weighing heavily on his mind. She was most truly right, she was all he had, but she had betrayed him correct? So that meant he didn't want her anymore right?

His chest ached painfully again at the thought and it took all he had not to wince for fear she would see his face. He wanted nothing more than to have her here, to have her as he did back on Midgard. He had never been happier than those times and the words she spoke to Odin back in the kitchen of the shop began to ring in his ears.

_"Why must he go back to a place where he always felt in the shadows? I wouldn't wish to return besides... I enjoy having him here."_

He shook himself from his thoughts, keeping his head turned, trying his best to keep his mind from her.

* * *

Maggie walked through the great hall, clad in flowing blue and gold robes, her golden brown hair falling past her shoulder blades, billowing softly from her fast pace, her face contorted into a heavy frown. When Odin noticed the woman, he turned completely, recognizing the determined lines in her face.

"Lady Sigyn," He greeted loudly, the crowd hushing around him. "What brings you back into my graces? I assume to also speak to me about my adopted son..."

"You promised," She interrupted haughtily, a buzz of voices circling the two from her insolence. "You promised that Loki's punishment wouldn't be severe so long as he stayed on Earth with me!" She swept her arms to the side angrily, glaring up at the king in front of her.

"Loki infiltrated and then killed one of the god's here, his imprisonment is our collective decision as to what to do with him."

"Why must you bind him in that unforgiving place?" She cried, her angry mask breaking from her face, the anguish shining through as she spoke. "If you must bind him, bind him to me!"

"You?" Odin questioned roughly. "You could not stop him from coming back here, what makes you think you would be able to hold him back now?"

"He was hurt when he found I was not who I said I was, I had no heart to hold him back from his anger when it was well placed."

"You believed Balder deserved to die?"

"No sire," She said quickly. "If it were possible I would take Balder's stead."

Odin stared at the woman in front of him, the tortured look upon her face. She was the only one to stand up for his son, the only to care as deeply for the tortured man other than his family. All of Asgard wished for his imprisonment, but this woman wished for his freedom. He knew she stood by his side for such a long time, keeping the venom from hitting Loki's face and he also knew of Frigga's journey down to Midgard to fetch the maiden. He wanted nothing more than to allow such a thing, but his people would rally hard against him. His eye narrowed slightly before sweeping his gaze around the room, taking in his now silent people around him, their whispers flitting through the hall like a soft breeze.

"There is nothing I can do," Odin said slowly, his gentle voice sweeping through the room, watching the woman before him as her face took on the same vehement hostility it did earlier.

"Then I shall free him myself."

With that she turned, sweeping her flowing robes to one side and storming out of the hall just as she had entered, Odin watching silently as she went. With little circumstance, he sat back in his throne, lounging quite peacefully, watching the slowly retreating figure that emanated determination.

"Almighty father," One of the guards stepped forward, his bright eyes shining, looking back at the now vanished figure and back to the lounging king. "Sire, should you not go after her? She means to release the prisoner."

Odin smiled, gripping his staff slightly, leaning onto one elbow. "There's nothing I can do."

* * *

When Maggie returned, she returned with a vengeance, still clad in her Asgardian robes, she gripped the basin from where she had left it, still filled with venom. She strode to the snake, still hissing at her dangerously as when she had left; ignoring it's warning, she knelt beside Loki, careful to keep her eyes from his.

"What are you doing?" He asked in slight panic as she drew the venom closer to his body. Not saying a word, slowly she dripped the liquid along the metal binding him, breaking him free before the melting chains could harm him. When she finished, Loki sat up, rubbing his wrists as he did so, watching her as she stood, glaring at the vicious snake that spit in her direction. Taking the rest of the venom she collected, she tossed it on the reptile, watching as it recoiled and spun from its own acidic bodily fluid.

Loki stared at her from the ground, the woman tossing the now empty basin to the side, the haughty, proud stance she took not reflecting what she had been a few hours earlier.

"Loki."

He turned to her, making to stand.

"I know that I lied to you and you have no reason to do a thing I ask, but for your freedom I request but one thing."

Silently he watched her, her chest lifting and falling harshly, her eyes on the still writhing snake.

"Wherever you may find yourself or what decisions you make... please take care," Her head dipped low, searching the soil below. "For I may not be there to release you from your bindings as you do not wish it."

He casted his eyes away, allowing her words to sink into him. This was goodbye, then. She had every right to believe so, as did he. He had numerous places he could retreat to in this universe, he had done so before and so he could do so again. He rose to his feet, brushing his clothes off, his attire back to his Earthen clothes of a t-shirt and jeans that he had been wearing earlier. Unsure what to say, he kept his mouth shut, turning his head to the side, his eyes still cast down and nodded, moving to step away.

"Wait!"

He froze, glancing back at her. He turned completely when he saw the state she was in, her fists and jaw clenched, her entire body shaking. Her eyes were still down, but when she spoke, she rose them and met his for the first time since she first visited him.

"Before you go... if you should hear me," She paused, swallowing thickly, her eyes shining. "I... I love you, Loki."

He gazed at her, his eyes taking in her face, the way she worried her lip, her entire being exposed to him. He wasn't sure what to do, what to say to her, this woman that had been in his life for such a short time. The only thing he did know was that above all, she spoke the truth and it took all of him to not fall to his knees from her confession. He had dreams of such words being said to him, dismissing them, believing them to be from the very small, considered annoying, optimistic piece of his brain and yet here she was, saying such things with such emotion upon her face.

For the longest time they stood there, neither sure what to do, but neither allowing themselves to say a word. Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was Maggie who spoke first.

"Thank you for hearing me," She said, her voice catching on the flood of emotions. "I will take my leave."

She bowed her head slightly, her eyes cast away from him and she turned, walking quickly the way she had come, her robes billowing around her as she went. He watched her leave, her figure vanishing over a hill, the soil disturbed from her harsh steps, her trail blazing over the mountainside. He gripped his chest, feeling as the soil from the whirlwind woman. He felt her leave by whatever magic had gotten her here, knowing above all else she had returned back to Midgard. Without him.

* * *

It had been weeks since Maggie had seen or heard from anyone of Asgard. She had sunk herself back into her restaurant, even hired a new server (a woman this time) and did her best to deflect the questions Chase had over Lance. No matter what she could do however, she could not get another renter for his old apartment. She didn't want to clean the rooms out, hoping beyond hope that someone would come and throw all of his things out for her just so she wouldn't have to do such things. Above all else she could never bring herself to enter it, let alone keep the key on the ring, discarding it in the drawer with the extra.

She knew Chase watched her, worried over her, but for the most part she ignored him like she had after her actual boyfriend Lance had left her. Taking the hint he eventually left her alone, leaving her to her tumultuous thoughts which grew darker day by day. She had thought of escaping from Earth, to vanish on some unknown planet away from all who knew her and the memories that haunted her, but she knew no other planet would welcome an Asgardian woman who had been banished by the All-father. It was amazing Loki had found solace even if it was with not so savory company.

Maggie was back to her nightly duties for the shop, ignoring the world around her and simply getting her tasks done. Long gone were the laughs, smiles and the bounciness of the woman she once was, her face now stoic and drawn. She wondered how people still came to the shop, her smiles all thin and fake and her eyes shadowed. It had gotten so bad that her regulars were questioning how she was doing, sending her confused and apologetic looks as they left. She sighed, her eyes closing for a moment, feeling the air in the kitchen shifting with the sense of magic, partially ignoring the new party in the room.

"Lady Sigyn."

Her eyes wrenched themselves from her work, eyeing the broad shouldered Thor who stood in her kitchen, a tired look on his face.

"What can I do for the prince of Asgard?" She asked flatly, not turning from her station.

"My father wished me to come here to tell you of your sentence..."

"With all due respect Thor," She interrupted, catching the blond god off guard. "But your dad can suck it for all I care right now."

She turned to leave, brushing her hands off as she went.

"Wait."

She stopped when he called her, her back still to him.

"Lady... I must admit that is not the true reason for my visit this evening."

She turned slightly, sending him a begrudged look. "Then why're you here?"

"You were the last to see my brother, do you know where he might have gone to after setting him free?"

Maggie shut her eyes, trying to wash away the memories Thor drew with him, Loki's face and eyes still clear in her mind before she left, when she had told him that she... She shook the thoughts away and when she gathered herself, she turned completely and allowed her face to harden.

"No. I don't. And even if I did I would not tell you," She said harshly. "You will not take him back to Asgard to be tied up again or to be banished by your father. In fact, he's lucky to get away from all of this bullshit!" She sucked in a breath, turning away from Thor, feeling her eyes beginning to sting. "If he didn't hate me so I would have joined him."

"I don't hate you."

She snorted, rubbing her hands on her face. "I could care less the feelings you have for me Thor."

She felt hands on her shoulders and she instantly recoiled from the touch, wanting nothing more than to sock the assuming prince.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" She cried, turning to face him. Her heart stopped when she found his eyes, her breath catching in her throat when she saw green instead of blue, black hair instead of gold.

"No," She whispered, tears falling down her cheeks, her head shaking. "I must he hallucinating, no no no no no."

"Maggie," He said softly, holding her hands so she couldn't run away. "You're not."

She gazed up at him, her entire form breaking in front of him. "Why..." She whispered. "Why are you here?"

"I..." He swallowed, looking away from her face. "I've always been here."

She shook her head. "What?"

"Your new server," He muttered, Maggie's eyes widening.

"That was you?"

He nodded numbly, finally letting her wrists go as she took a step back, one hand covering her mouth.

"You posed... as a woman?" She snorted, her hands covering her face, her shoulders shaking.

"Please stop crying," He begged lowly, but pulled back when she dropped her hands, a wide grin on her face.

"You... posed as a woman," She giggled, seeming more manic than happy. When she took a deep breath, the smile on her face vanished. "You realize Chase was hitting on you right?"

Loki growled under his breath, stepping forward, towering over her. "That was not the reason I appeared before you now."

"Why did you?" She challenged.

"Because whatever I do, however I try to do it, I can't you out of my head."

"What does that mean?"

His frown deepened, frustration bubbling as he ran a hand through his hair, knowing what she wanted, but unsure if he could provide it. It wasn't like when he had satiated her when he first met her, no this was completely different and above all else what frustrated him more was that he wanted to do it right. He had never meant anything by it before and lies were always so much easier on his tongue, but the ultimate thing was he never wanted to lie to her (and only her) again.

After fretting within himself, he turned back to her, taking her shoulders in his hands and sucking in a deep breath.

"I-it means that..." His eyes finally met hers. "I... love you."

She brought her head closer to his, their foreheads meeting and allowed her eyes to fall shut. "I love you too."

"I apologize for scaring you earlier," He said softly after a moment of silence. "I thought you were to beat me whilst I was Thor."

Maggie laughed, the first genuine laugh she had in weeks. "I was about to."

"You know," He hummed, a mischievous smirk lilting onto his face, his head leaning away from hers. "I wouldn't mind it if you did beat the actual Thor."

She giggled again, a sad smile on her face, leaning in to kiss him on the lips. "You're nuts."

"I know."


End file.
